Please pardon the weird sizing. My new design is under construction and there are a few glitches. That’s the problem with being a designer and not a programmer! Hopefully all will be corrected soon!
Please pardon the weird sizing. My new design is under construction and there are a few glitches. That’s the problem with being a designer and not a programmer! Hopefully all will be corrected soon!
Please pardon the weird sizing. My new design is under construction and there are a few glitches. That’s the problem with being a designer and not a programmer! Hopefully all will be corrected soon!
I’ve been so busy creating over the past year that I decided I better start applying for some holiday craft shows. Here’s a small sampling of what I’ve been creating over the last year. Please note that all creations are copyrighted.
Handcrafted cards with a Minnesota twist.
Once in awhile a project comes along and surprises you with childlike and carefree moments of creative play.This was one of those projects.
I got a much-needed respite when I spent a recent afternoon painting, shrinking and melting bits of plastic into fused combinations of happy color. I hope you hop on over to the ColourArte blog to see find out how to create some of this fun for yourself.
Today the Robin’s Nest is featuring Part Two of the tutorial of Behind the Curtain–a Steampunk Homage to Oz.
I’m proud of this shadowbox and encourage you to check it out. You can also read how it led to my memory of baby-snatching tornadoes.
You see, I felt I needed to explain over at the Robin’s Nest why I don’t really like the Wizard of Oz. That led me to explain my family’s long-running joke about how they forgot me during a tornado.
When tornado sirens sounded, my family retreated to the safety of the basement. Only then did they ask one another, “Do you have Betsy?”
The movie Paper Towns hit theaters earlier this week. Although, I’m not particularly interested in this flick, the title caught my eye. Paper Towns–could a more perfect title for a crafter exist? If you want to learn how to make this Paper Town Three-Drawer Night Light Unit, featuring rows of paper houses, please check out the free tutorial.
There’s an interesting side note about this project. Although he never said so directly, it was clear my Dad was not a fan of my art. Endless layers, textures, ephemera and more are the exact opposite of his style. A purist architect, who had once worked for the famed Eero Saarinen, my dad believed that “more did not make better”.
Due to both my journalism and graphic design backgrounds, I appreciated, understood and applied this approach in my professional work. However, crafting is my escape from rigid rules and precise measurements. As a result, most of my art has lots of “more”.
He suggested more than once that I design sympathy cards because there were none simple enough for his liking. I gave him a couple of samples containing a line art flower surrounded by lots of white space, yet those were still too ornate. At some point I gave up. Honestly though, I think the only card that would have pleased him would have been one teeny, terse phrase written in Helvetica All Caps:
It is safe to say he was a no nonsense man.
My dad passed away in June. As I was working on Paper Towns, my sister noticed it and chuckled, “You are channeling your inner father.” She was right. I finally made some art he would have liked.
So, Dad, this one’s for you. Thank you for being my night light and unwavering beacon of safety.
Back when I was teenager, I babysat a boy and his younger sister a few times. The sister was a perfect angel. The boy? Well, let’s just say he was a little hard to manage. Read the rest of this entry
So it was just a week ago that my 8.5 ounce baby boy was born. Well….a week and 18 years ago. It feels like a few days ago. Cliche or not, where the hell did the time go?
Since he is past the age of wanting action figures for presents and since he is always broke, his dad and I decided to give him small denomination gift cards that he can use throughout the year. I tied it into the chance to remind him about the incredibly awesome parents who threw so many over-the-top theme birthday parties over the years. Aaaannnnd, since I’m still Mom, I decided to also use the opportunity to boost his awareness about Mother’s Day other important days throughout the year. Read the rest of this entry
Welcome to the Robin’s Nest Christmas Blog Hop.
Make sure to visit each of the stops on the Design Team blog hop because the Robin’s Nest is giving away a fabulous prize–a bottle of Christmas Dew Drops–at every blog stop. To enter the contest begin at the Robin’s Nest, follow the links and leave a comment on each blog site. Also make sure you follow the Robin’s Nest Facebook page.